We had to wait until the last day of January to attend the first major conference of 2013 in the business travel sector. For the third year running, the KDS teams had invited industry professionals to Paris, to the Eurosites George V, for the KDS Now conference. The 2013 edition was better attended than ever, with some 998 registrants, and a master of ceremonies worthy of the occasion: Paul Tilstone, GBTA Head of Global Development (Global Business Travel Association), and Managing Director Europe of the association. But it was Dean Forbes above all who, as a good showman, caught the audience's attention. The CEO of KDS unveiled two new products for business travellers and their travel managers, starting with KDS Flex T&E, a tool capable of recovering booking information previously beyond the company's control, in order to reconcile data and comply with the duty to protect where necessary. All this is done with a simple click of the mouse once the booking has been made on the website of a low-cost airline or a hotel reservation centre.
But the attention of the hundreds of participants gathered for this 3th The main attraction of KDS Now was the presentation of KDS Neo, the second flagship tool unveiled on Thursday. Supported by an IPad and in real time, Dean Forbes was likely to have 'bluffed' a large part of the audience by presenting the new business travel management platform. A business trip - in this case between Rouen and Times Square, the example chosen by the KDS boss - the start and end times of the trip, and one click later, the new KDS Neo details point by point the various stages of the recommended itinerary, offering to confirm train, plane and hotel reservations at the touch of a button. Aside from the speed of execution, it's the functionality of the tool that really impresses: behind the apparent simplicity of the chronological display, the user has access to a multitude of possibilities enabling them to opt for several alternatives. The recommended itinerary is complemented by three other sections, for an economical, fast or environmentally-friendly option. All of this integrates the parameters of the travel policy for each customer, to adapt to the company's prerogatives while offering the best options to the business traveller. Business travellers can also directly view the total and detailed cost of the trip, including anticipated local costs such as taxis and restaurants, to help them make an informed decision about the relevance of a business trip. What's more, the tool considerably simplifies the 'travel & expense' aspect by reconciling the data, and provides access to a virtual tour of the chosen destination in 'street view' format. KDS Neo has been available since 31 January, and has been designed to adapt to the different mobile tools and operating systems used by business travellers.
